This page is big!
If it fails to load fully, please click Refresh on your browser menu.
It's fully loaded when you see the purple menu bar at the foot of the page.
reetings from Australia.
Welcome to
this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations,
birthdays and events.
Celebrate each
and every day with a free subscription to the daily ezine. You can apply by
form or send a blank email. Read
what the 'Almaniacs' (members) say about Wilson's Almanac.
I request your
support
if this website pleases and informs you, as this is my livelihood. Thank
you, from the bottom of my fridge.
Inquiries from
publishers are welcome, but, dear reader, please don't use my work without
my written
permission. If I've inadvertently used something of yours that you
consider not to fall under the fair use
doctrine, please tell me and I'll remove it.
Tethys bore to Okeanos the swirling Potamoi ... She brought forth
also a race apart of daughters. Hesiod;Theogony
337-346
I
want nobody distressed on my account. President Ulysses S Grant,
American soldier and 18thUS
president, from 1869 - 1877; his last words,
on July 23, 1885
Then her hands dropped and jerked at something and the robe she
was wearing came open and underneath it she was as naked as September
Morn but a darn sight less coy. Raymond Chandler, American novelist, born on July 23, 1888; The
Long Good-bye, Ch. 29
Across the street somebody
had delirium tremens in the front yard and a mixed quartet tore what
was left of the night into small strips and did what they could to
make the strips miserable. While this was going on the exotic brunette
didn't move more that one eyelash. Raymond Chandler; Red Wind,
Section 5
Downing Street Minutes (Downing
Street Memo) 3rd anniversary events
The Smoking Gun that Proves Bush Lied About Iraq
Mourn the Losses, Learn the Truth, and Investigate the Lies SIGN
UP TO ATTEND. Check for an event near you. SIGN
UP TO HOST. Announce an event that you will host, so that people can sign up
for it.
Celebrate the 3-Year Anniversary of the Downing Street Meeting with Your Own
Town Hall Meeting or House Party
Be part of a national day of action on Saturday, July 23, 2005.
You and your organization should work with other organizations to form a
coalition and hold one large event in your area. Resources and tips for holding
an effective town hall meeting are below. Be sure to invite your Congress Member
and Senators, but there's no reason to make the event dependent on their coming.
You should certainly hold it, even without them. (But if they didn't have a good
reason not to come, make sure there's an empty seat on stage with their name on
it where cameras can see it well.)
Where you cannot organize a large event, organize some friends and hold a house
party. In either case, post the event on this site so that people can sign up to
come. Many of the resources below will come in handy.
SIGN
UP TO ATTEND. Check for an event near you. SIGN
UP TO HOST. Announce an event that you will host, so that people can sign up
for it ...
This is a festival about which little is known (Varro,
de Ling. Lat. vi.19). It was a day for the Roman sea god,
Neptune (Poseidon, in Greek mythology), and his wife
Salacia (to the Greeks,
Amphitrite, 'the third one who encircles [the sea]'), goddess of the open sea. Inland, she rules over springs of highly
mineralised waters. In the middle of the most fiercely hot part of the summer season, when water was at its scarcest, Romans sought Neptune's protection of irrigation waters.
In the ancient Roman calendar this day was marked as
Nept. ludi et feriae, or Nept. ludi, indicating that the festival was celebrated with games. In celebration, huts
(tabernaculi) of branches and foliage (umbrae) were built, in which people probably feasted, drank, and amused themselves
(HoraceCarm. iii.28.1, etc;
Tertullian De Spect.
6). (Compare with the booths under which Jews traditionally commemorated the Feast of Tabernacles,
Succot.) It was one of the
dies comitiales, when committees of citizens could vote on civil or criminal matters.
The goddess Sulis, worshipped at the
sacred springs
(Aquae Sulis) at Bath, England, appears to be an aspect of Salacia although she has connections with
Minerva as well. Sulis was originally a Celtic deity, absorbed by
Roman mythology. In the northern tradition, Neptune and Salacia are equivalent to the Norse god, Aegir, and his consort, Ran.
Neptune was in love with Salacia but she hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean. The sea god sent a dolphin searching for her; when it found her it brought her back to Neptune. Salacia agreed to marry Neptune and the dolphin thus won a place in the heavens.
The Romans celebrated mostly with al fresco events today,
although the poet Horace (Odes 3.28) preferred to
stay home with a girlfriend and superior wine.
According to Apollodorus, the
Greek sea god was Okeanos, the great fresh water river
encircling the earth, his wife was Tethys
('Tethys the lovely', and 'lovely haired Tethys'), goddess of the
nursing of the young and of the underground flow of fresh water, and
Amphitrite was their daughter. However, according to Hesiod's Theogony,
Amphitrite was the daughter of Nereus and Doris.
In art, Amphitrite is represented either enthroned
beside Poseidon, or driving with him in a chariot drawn by sea-horses or
other fabulous creatures of the deep, and attended by Tritons
and Nereids.
A
continuation of the Neptunalia was a little-known festival called the
Furrinalia, sometimes known as the Festival of Salacia, on July 25 (qv),
when the campers and picknickers continued their celebrations back in the
city of Rome.
Find an error or dead link?
Like to make a suggestion, or just say "G'day"?
Meet me at Corrigenda
In Greek mythology, it corresponds to the Nemean
Lion which was killed by Hercules
during one of his quests. The Egyptians worshipped the lion because
the sun was in this constellation at the time of the life-giving
floods of the Nile.
"Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac symbolised by the 'Lion', the 'King of beasts', the 'Great Light' and the 'Nemean Lion of Argolis' (this is the lion that only Hercules could defeat as the first of his twelve labours). Since ancient times the lion has been associated with fatherhood, religion and kingship. The mystical symbol of the Sun is also strongly connected with Leo representing primal life carrying the seed of life in its centre.
"The Sun is the ruling planet of Leo, known as 'Sol' to the Romans, bringing a sense of creativity and continual activity. It is important to be aware that the ruler of this sign has been worshipped since ancient times, reflected in all major deities. In ancient Egypt 'Ra' was the 'Sun God', in ancient Assyria 'Shamash' and to the Persians the 'Sun God' was 'Mithras'. So also we can find in ancient Greek mythology 'Helios', who came from the Heavens providing light for the day, believed to disappear into the sea at night. The Roman 'God Apollo' too provides vital clues as to the strong temperament of this sign. The qualities associated with the Leo are that of leadership, dignity, pride, ambition, high constant energy, self-confidence, enjoyment and satisfaction. They are also known to be extremely loyal in friendship, indeed honourable to a fault, and faithful in love. Leo will defend a loved one almost to the death abhorring injustice. Here we can see the possibility of danger, as Leo has also been thought to suffer with obstinate fixed attitudes but try to remember they have a big heart. The fifth phase of the journey of the Sun is experienced here, that of the mature adult with a clearly formed personality. Leo is a fixed and positive fire sign associated with the statements 'I create', 'I am number one', and 'I am magnificent'. It rules the heart and spine. Leo has many floral associations, with the Celandine, Chamomile, Holly, Lavender, Marigold, Passion Flower, Sunflower and all green vegetables (See Mystical WWW
Plants, &
Language of
Flowers). Leo is further associated with the Almond, Apple, Bay, Hazel, Laurel, Palm, and Walnut (See Mystical WWW
Trees). Colours associated with Leo are golden hues, ochre, orange, shades of yellow and browns."
Source
Lion's Head Fountains
We often see in fountains the water flowing from a lion's
mouth. This ancient custom originates with the Egyptians who used this device to
symbolise the inundation of the Nile, which happens when the Sun is in Leo. The Greeks and Romans adopted the style for their fountains, and it was passed through the European nations.
How many zodiac signs are there?
John Mosley of the Griffith Observatory and the Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus investigated this question in 1999 and found that the planets
actually pass through 24 constellations.
It must have been early
recognised that the Nile began to rise afresh about the same time
(near July 19th of the Julian Calendar) that the brilliant star
Sirius (the dog-star), after having been invisible for a prolonged
period, was first again observed in the sky shortly before sunrise.
Consequently this latter event, described by modern astronomers as
the heliacal rising of Sirius and by the Egyptians as prt Spdt
'the going up of (the goddess) Sothis', came to be regarded as
the true New Year's Day (wpt-rnpt,
'the opening of the year'),
i.e. . . 'first month of inundation, day 1. Gardiner, Egy.
Grammar, p. 205
The third New Year's Day is that of the Heliacal
Rising of the 'Arrow-Star' Sirius, which heralded the 1st day of
the Sothic year. Source
Birgitta (c. 1303 - July 23,
1373),
who was born at Finsta Castle, Uppsala, Sweden, began receiving visions,
mostly of the Crucifixion,
at the age of seven. her records of these Revelationes coelestes
('Celestial revelations') which were translated into Latin by
Matthias, canon of Linköping, and by her confessor, Peter prior
of Alvastra, obtained a great vogue during the Middle Ages.Her prophecies and revelations made reference to prominent
contemporary religious and political events, both in Rome and in Sweden.
"These Revelations, Revelationes celestes, are
collected in eight books and a supplement, running to something
like 1,400 pages in modern print.
"They convey the picture of a clearly structured
personality. We are confronted with a person of outstanding will
power and rare vitality, of a practical disposition and not very
interested in theoretical questions. She has striking powers of
observation, an acute sense for details and fluency of
self-expression. She is also a great lover of nature; the
Swedish landscape makes its first literary appearance through
her obiter dicta."Source
In 1316, when she was about thirteen, she married prince Ulfo of Nerci; she had eight children including St Catherine
of Sweden. Founder of the Bridgettine Order, she is patron of Europe (appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1999), Sweden and widows. It is said that "Can
anything good come out of the North?" was Pope Boniface
IX's
spontaneous reaction when the question of Birgitta Birgersdotter's
canonisation was put before him in about 1390. Her feast day was formerly October 8
and is now July
23.
Feast day of St Phocas the
Gardener (Phocas of
Sinope)
He was an innkeeper,
gardener and martyr (beheaded c. 303 in the persecution
of Emperor
Diocletian) who used surplus crops to feed the poor. Phocas
is the
Latin word for 'seal',
which may explain is patronage of
sailors
and
mariners. A sailors' custom was to serve Phocas a portion of
every meal; this was called 'the portion of St Phocas'. This portion
was bought by one of the voyagers and the price deposited in the
hands of the captain. When the ship came into port, the money was
distributed among the poor, in thanksgiving to their benefactor for
their successful voyage. Phocas is also a patron saint of
agricultural workers,
boatmen,
farm workers,
farmers,
field hands,
gardeners,
husbandmen,
market-gardeners and
watermen.
These
were first-century magi
(possibly a
priestly caste of ancient Persian Zoroastrianism)who visited the infant Jesus in
Bethlehem.
Their feast day was formerly Epiphany, January 6
(qv, and see also January 6, 2nd
page), and because of the antiquity of that commemoration, it is
then, and on its eve, January 5,
that most of the calendar customs associated with the Magi take
place.
It's
interesting to note that January 6 commemorates the Rising of the
Nile, and the Magi's following of the bright star, both of which are
associated with today (see above).See also January 4
for the extraordinary association the Dogon people of Africa have
with Sirius.
The Gospel of Matthew, chapter II, where
they appear, does not in fact number the Three Wise Men of Christmascarols
and crèches,
but from the three gifts given, popular culture usually has three
Magi appearing at the scene.
The Three Wise Men frequently appear in
Nativity scenes and other Christmas
decorations; they are featured in the Christmas carolWe Three Kings.
An apocryphal tradition in the West gives them
the names
Caspar (or Gaspar), Melchior,
and Balthasar. Syrian
Christians call them Larvandad, Hormisdas, and Gushnasaph.
None of these names is obviously Persian nor carries any
ascertainable meaning. They offered gold (emblem of royalty),
frankincense (divinity) and myrrh (woe and death). The latter, a
herb used in mummification and embalming, symbolised the persecution
Jesus would receive, that would even take him to death.
Artists have used the theme to
represent the three ages of man, as the convention grew up to represent one as a young king, another in mid-life, and the third as an old man. Since the Age of Discoveries, they also
represent three parts of the world. Balthasar is thus represented as
a young African or Moor. The Journey of the Magi has been
a popular topos in Christian art.
The representation of the Magi as
kings was derived from Old Testament texts such as Isaiah 60:1-6 (which says "they shall bring gold and incense". In the Old Testament it was prophesied that "The kings of
Tarshish and the islands shall bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba
(Sheba) offer gifts"
(Psalm 72:10 - 11). Thus many Christians, by connecting that prophecy with the 'Three Wise Men', believe that they must have been kings. However, modern scholars tend to believe that if they
existed, they were likely to be astrologers from Babylonia (modern Iraq), Persia (modern Iran) or Arabia.
A Shrine of the
Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral exists in Cologne, Germany and, according to
tradition, it contains the bones of the Three Wise Men. In
medieval Europe, it was widely believed that the skulls of Caspar,
Balthasar and Melchior had magic powers. Anything that had touched
one of the skulls would protect the bearer while travelling. Their
names, too, were used as magic charms, even inscribed in garters,
girdles and rings, a practice held to be especially useful in the
treatment of cramp.
In Ben-Hur,
Balthasar is an old man who goes back to Palestine to see the former
child Jesus become an adult.
The Golden
Legend describes the gifts thus:
...by these three be signified three things that be in Jesu Christ: The precious Deity, the soul full of holiness, and the entire Flesh all pure and without corruption. And these three things be signified that were in the ark of Moses. The rod which flourished, that was the Flesh of Jesu Christ that rose from death to life; the tables wherein the commandments were written, that is the soul, wherein be all the treasures of sapience and science of Godhead. The manna signifieth the Godhead, which hath all sweetness of suavity. By the gold which is most precious of all metals is understood the Deity; by the incense the soul right devout, for the incense signifieth devotion and orison; by the myrrh which preserveth from corruption, is understood the Flesh which was without corruption. Aurea
Legenda
(The
Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints.
Compiled by Jacobus
de Voragine (c. 1230 - 1298), Archbishop of Genoa, 1275.
First edition published 1470. Englished by William
Caxton (c. 1422 - c. 1491), first edition 1483).
"The
Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi has stunning new
insight and approach, which finally gives a confident answer to a
question that has fascinated all Christians through the ages. ...
don't buy any other book on the Star of Bethlehem, because the old
astronomical views are guaranteed to be irrelevant." Prof. Bradley E Schaefer, Yale University
Could the purchase of an ancient
coin have led to an important clue about the Star of Bethlehem?
The above illustration is a Roman coin from Antioch, Syria which
shows the zodiacal sign, Aries the Ram.
"The spacecraft Giotto was named after artist Giotto di
Bondone, who had used the appearance of Comet Halley in 1301 as
the model for the Star of Bethlehem in his 1304 painting titled
'Adoration of the Magi'. The purpose of the Giotto mission was to
study Comet Halley during the comet's perihelion passage in 1986." Source
(Warei
Taisai) Uwajima Matsuri, Uwajima, Japan (Jul 23 - 24)
Grand 69 Festival
"Famous for its hundreds of ships with the colorful Tairyoubata(big
catch) flags in the sea, Hashirikomi ceremony of Mikoshi and strange
creature called Ushioni."Source
Soma Nomaoi, Wild Horse
Chasing Festival, Soma, Japan (Jul 23 - 25)
"On the first day, a parade of horsemen wearing feudal costumes
arrives at the field, accompanied by sacred portable shrines. They
race to the sound of conch shells(Horagai). This race is called
Katchu-keiba. The next day, they scramble for shrine flags shot up
high into the air (Shinki-sodatsusen). On the last day, armed
horsemen chase wild horses into an enclosure of Shrine and
white-costumed men try to catch 4 or 5 horses with bare hands to
offer to the gods (Nomaoi)."Source
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
"Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia,
known to his devotees as the King of Kings and the Conquering Lion
of the Tribe of Judah, is revered as the incarnation of God by
Rastafarians throughout the world. His birthday is celebrated
widely by all his followers.
"Since Rastafarianism is a highly
individual form of worship, organisation for the event is up to
individual groups and small communities throughout the world.
There is no Rasta Pope to organise the Rasta Christmas, so it is
difficult to predict what form the celebrations will take locally.
"What you can safely expect, though, is that there will be
concerts, gatherings, rallies and other forms of musical worship
throughout the world on this day. If you feel like being soothed
and stirred by the lush bass-lines of the funkiest devotional
music in the entire world, check out your nearest source of reggae
vibrations for some uniquely chilled-out spiritual partying.
"The name Rastafarianism derives from the pre-coronation title
of Haile Selassie: Ras, meaning 'prince', and Tafari, the
Emperor's personal name. The emperor became the official saviour
of the Rasta movement while still alive.
"The movement has strong roots in the imagery and language of
the Judeo-Christian Bible and carries a strong identification with
the African "homeland", where the Jews allegedly
originated. Though rooted in Christianity, the movement defies
many of the conventions of organised religion, partly because of
the rampant individualism and personal liberty advocated by Rastas.
"Rastafarianism also has strong political undercurrents. Its
origins lie in Jamaica in the 1920s, with the 'ministry' of
Marcus Garvey. Besides the divinity of Haile Selassie, the other
major doctrine is that the salvation of black people will come
through repatriation to Zion, or Africa. Babylon, the opposite of
the promised land, is the land of corruption, greed and spiritual
darkness, generally projected onto the commercial-capitalist West.
Many Rastas tend towards organic farming and a life "in
harmony with Jah". For one version of the ideal Rasta
lifestyle, we suggest you go and see the film Countryman.
"The famed and often prodigious dreadlocks (a dread is one who
fears Jah, the God of Abraham: the term derives from early Rasta
mystical doctrines) that decorate the heads of the male
'brethren' of the movement are one of the few common items of
religious apparel shared by most Rastas. Another is the symbolic
red, black and green cap: interpretation of these colours is
obviously individual, but to some they represent the red blood
shed in the struggle of black people throughout the ages, the
black skin of the chosen people and the green of the fertile
future Homeland of Ethiopia. Sometimes yellow is also added,
representing the gold and riches of the Homeland."Source
"Amongst followers of Rastafarianism, a religion which
developed in the 1930s in Jamaica
under the influence of Marcus Mosiah Garvey's 'Back
to Africa' movement, Haile Selassie is regarded as a Black messiah
who will lead the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora to freedom. Most
Rastafarians believe that Selassie is still alive, and that his
widely reported death was part of a conspiracy to discredit their
religion.
"The Emperor himself, a devout Christian,
was opposed to the Rastafarians' belief in him as messiah. A
state visit to Jamaica in 1966, during which Selassie was greeted
by massive screaming crowds, was reportedly quite unsettling for
the monarch. After the visit, the Emperor is said to have told Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq: "There is a problem in
Jamaica.... Please, help these people. They are
misunderstanding, they do not understand our culture.... They
need a church to be established and you are chosen to go." The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church was established in Jamaica to convert
the Rastafarians to Christianity."Source:
Wikipedia
Your family and friends will get a
kick when they hear their own name being sung in 'Happy Birthday'!!
You can schedule your singing cards in advance, and even add your
own face to funny animations. (Pay cards)
If you are enjoying this page, click to
receive similar items daily with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac
ezine
Webmaster,
webmasters free content, or else articles at very reasonable rates
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your website or publication, on
application. Further details
1637Direct action: The new service book for churches, with some
Catholic-style elements, so outraged vegetable stall-holder Jenny Geddes in
St Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland, that she threw a stool at the
dean, James Hannay. As she hurled it she cried, "Villain! Dost thou say Mass
at ma lug [ear]?", and the dean had to run from a volley of stones hurled by
the worshippers.
William Laud(1573 - 1645),
the Archbishop
of Canterbury under King Charles I had tried to enforce Counter-Reformation
elements in church services. His methods were as ruthless as he was intolerant
of the beliefs of others. However, he met an end as grisly as that he meted out
to his foes.
In 1637,
Laud had William Prynne and two others sentenced to mutilation
(removal of ears and branding on both cheeks) for the crime of seditious libel.
His
intolerance towards the Presbyterians extended to Scotland where it led to the Covenanter
movement and the Bishops' Wars. The Long
Parliament of 1640
accused him of treason,
resulting in his imprisonment in the Tower
of London, where he remained throughout the early stages of the English
Civil War. In the spring of 1644 he was brought to trial, but it ended with the court being
unable to reach a verdict. The parliament took up the issue, and eventually
passed a Bill of Attainder under which he was beheaded on January 10, 1645 on Tower Hill.
Jenny's stool survived the cruel cleric and is still
in the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh.
"When the feeling was wrought up to its highest
tension the Dean of Edinburgh made his appearance, clad in immaculate
surplice, book in hand – the fatal book of the liturgy — the device of
English Prelacy for the reform of Scotch Presbytery.The book was opened and the service
begun.
"The cup was now full, though as yet no one
pretended to know, no one dreamed, what form of expression the pent-up
indignation of the outraged people would assume. The question was soon
decided.
"No sooner had the first words of the book, through
the lips of the dean, reached the ear of Jenny, the stern prophetess on her
tripod, than a sudden inspiration seized her.In an instant she was on her feet, and her shrill, impassioned voice
rang through the arches of the cathedral:
"'Villain! doest thou say mass in my lug?' and
in another instant her three-legged stool was seen on its way, travelling
through the air straight toward the head of the surpliced prayer-reader.
"The
astounded dean, not anticipating such an argument, dodged it, but the
consequences he could not dodge. He had laid his book, as he thought, upon a
cushion – the cushion proved a hornet's nest. In an instant the assembly was
in the wildest uproar. Hands were clapped; hisses and loud vociferations
filled the house, and missiles, such as the hand could reach, filled the
air. A sudden rush was made toward the pulpit by the people in one
direction, and from the pulpit by the dean in the other." Rev. WP Breed, DD,Jenny
Geddes, or Presbyterianism and its great Conflict with Despotism,
Presbyterian Board of Publication,Philadelphia, 1869Source
1637 England's King Charles I lost a court battle over control of
Massachusetts. Power then passed to Sir Ferdinand Gorges of New England's
governing council.
1690 Death of Richard Gibson,
artist (painter of miniatures) and court-dwarf to England's King Charles
I.
His wife, Ann Shepherd, was court-dwarf to Charles's consort, Queen Henrietta
Maria.
"Her majesty encouraged a marriage between these
two clever but diminutive persons; the king giving away the bride, the queen
presenting her with a diamond ring; while Waller, the court-poet, celebrated
the nuptials in one of his prettiest poems.
Design or chance make
others wive,
But nature did this match contrive;
Eve might as well have Adam fled,
As she denied her little bed
To him, for whom Heaven seemed to frame
And measure out this little dame.
The conclusion of the poem
is very elegant.
Ah Chloris! that kind
nature, thus,
From all the world had severed us;
Creating for ourselves, us two,
As Love has me, for only you.
"The marriage was an
eminently happy one. The little couple had nine children, five of whom lived
to years of maturity, and full ordinary stature. Gibson had the honour of
being drawing-master to Queen Mary and her sister Queen Anne. His works were
much valued, and one of them was the innocent cause of a tragical event. This
painting, representing the parable of the lost sheep, was highly prized by
Charles I, who gave it into the charge of Vandervort, the keeper of the royal
pictures, with strict orders to take the greatest care of it. In obedience to
these orders, the unfortunate man put the picture away so carefully, that he
could not find it himself when the king asked for it a short time afterwards.
Afraid or ashamed to say that he had mislaid it, Vandervort committed suicide
by hanging. A few days after his death, the picture was found in the spot
where he had placed it.
1716A mug-house
riot: a pitched battle occurred between partisans of the whig and tory sides of
politics, in a tavern ('mug-house') on Fleet Street, London, one of many
mug-house commotions at the time.
"1716, a tavern in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, was
assailed by a great mob, evidently animated by a deadly purpose. The house
was defended, and bloodshed took place before quiet was restored. This
affair was a result of the recent change of dynasty. The tavern was one of a
set in which the friends of the newly acceded Hanover family assembled, to
express their sentiments and organise their measures. The mob was a Jacobite
mob, to which such houses were a ground of offence." Robert Chambers, ibid
"We would have a skirt
reaching down to nearly half-way between the knee and the ankle, and not made
quite so full as is the present fashion. Underneath this skirt, trousers
moderately full, in fair, mild weather, coming down to the ankle (not instep)
and there gathered with an elastic band."
"… a woman and several schoolchildren at
Kelso claimed to have observed an 'airship'. Initially it was reported
that a 'man' was observed sitting in the craft. This was not confirmed in
later retelling. The media accounts of the day even carried sketches of the 'Kelso airship' attributed to some of the school children allegedly
involved.
"It should be noted that
the local children were exposed to fictional 'airship' stories via a
children's magazine 'Chums', namely the story 'The Peril of the
Motherland'. The 'Evening Star' of July 30th gave the following account
of the Kelso visitation:
"'Mrs Russell,
evidently the only adult who saw the phenomena, said she was going down
towards the station about 12 o'clock when she saw a streak of blackness
shoot over the hill on the left and apparently come straight towards her. Then
it suddenly turned and swerved away over some trees out of her sight. She was
very frightened when she saw it, as she had been ill. In appearance it was
just like a boat.
"'It was black in colour.
She saw it for just a few minutes. It was travelling very fast at first, but
when it turned, it came lower and went somewhat slower. She was very
flustered as she thought the end of the world had come.'
"Years later some of the
children reported that the story was a hoax that had got out of hand."
1973Robert Anton Wilson, the occultist/philosopher,
either achieved contact with extraterrestrials from Sirius or started
a long-term period of having wild hallucinations,
depending on your perspective.
1987 Convicted
gunrunner and liar to the American people, US Admiral
John Poindexter, was
reported to have used the phrase "I can't recall", or some variation
thereof, 184 times during his five days of testimony in the Iran-Contra Affairhearings.
Poindexter
lost his job as National Security Adviser under Ronald
Reagan, and was convicted
of conspiracy, lying to Congress, defrauding the government, and destroying
evidence. In 1990, the convictions were overturned as Congress had given him
immunity in exchange for his testimony, despite the fact thathis evidence to Congress turned out to
be untrue.
Poindexter was convicted of conspiracy, lying to
Congress, defrauding the government, and destroying evidence, so George W Bush
wanted him for a big job. On February
13, 2002, the
media learned that Poindexter had been appointed (by George W Bush) the Director
of The
Pentagon's Information Awareness Office, a
secretive intelligence bureau whose mission is to gather and centralise as much
information as possible about everyone, intending to unify all private databases
about US citizens into one central database run by the government (including
information about travel, credit card purchases, medical history, and so on).
Beset by international
ridicule, and with an eye to public relations, the US government has changed the
name from Total Information Awareness Office to convey more convincingly
the impression that its purpose is related to terrorism.
Online pranksters have published
John Poindexter's home phone number, photos of his house and other personal
information to protest the TIA program.
"On February 13, 2002,
Americans were warned that our nation was facing the threat of danger to
homeland security. Three hours later it happened, but nobody told America.
That day, John M. Poindexter was appointed Director of the Pentagon's
Information Awareness Office."Source
: sometimes described by critics of the 2003
Iraq War as the "smoking gun memo", it contains the minutes of a
secret meeting, on July 23, 2002, among United
Kingdom government, defence and intelligence figures, discussing the
build-up to the war.
The memo gets its name from London's
Downing Street, where the official residence of Prime
MinisterTony Blair is
located (at 10 Downing
Street). It is a metonym for the UK
government in the same way that "White House" is a metonym
for the United States government.
James
Wolcott may have been the first blogger in the US to
take note of the Sunday Times publication, on April 30, 2005. By the
next morning the document had become a major story at Daily Kos,
where Congressman Conyers learned of it. Numerous web logs have picked up the
story (see blogpulse
for a histogram), and a website, www.downingstreetmemo.com,
was created on May 11
to inform the public about the memo. The website also has a blog specifically
dedicated to discussing issues surrounding the memo, called downingstreetmemo.blogspot.com.
Created in late May, AfterDowningStreet.org
is a coalition of more than 90 organizations who support an inquiry by the US
into the issues surrounding the Downing Street memo and, US pre-war
intelligence, and the planning and execution of the Iraq war.
"The
Downing Street 'Memo' is actually a document containing meeting
minutes transcribed during the British Prime Minister's meeting on
July 23, 2002—eight months PRIOR to the invasion of Iraq in
March 2003. The Times of London printed the text of this
document on Sunday, May 1, 2005. Since then, several
other leaked UK government documents have come to light.
Together they present a disturbing picture of a President obsessed
with invasion, and a loyal ally troubled both by how it could be
justified and by what it would bring.
"This site is intended as a resource
for anyone who wants to understand the meaning and context of
these documents as they relate to the Bush administration's case
for war." Source
George W Bush's Watergate
The Downing Street Memo ... proof positive
that George W Bush intended from the start to go to
war in Iraq and rigged American intelligence to support the
case. See also http://07-23-2002.blogspot.com/
"British
officials hoped the ultimatum could be framed in words that
would be so unacceptable to Hussein that he would reject it
outright. But they were far from certain this would work, so
there was also a Plan B... Put simply, US aircraft patrolling
the southern no-fly zone were dropping a lot more bombs in the
hope of provoking a reaction that would give the allies an
excuse to carry out a full-scale bombing campaign, an air war,
the first stage of the conflict." Michael Smith, 'The
real news in the Downing Street memos', LA Times,
June 23, 2005
reetings from Australia.
How it works
Festival of the Neptunalia, in honour of Neptune and Salacia, Roman
Empire (Jul 23 - 24)
Sun enters Leo,
5th sign of the
Zodiac 
Lion's Head Fountains
Festival of the
Rising of Sothis-
Feast day of St 
![St. James Day [ Jul y25 ] free e-cards](http://img.123greetings.com/events/images/stjamesspain60.gif)
![Summer [ Jun 21 Sep 22 ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_summer_1.gif){kind=small}
![Christmas In July [ July ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_chrjul.gif){kind=small}
![Friendship Day [ Aug 6 ]](http://img.123greetings.com/homeimages/side_frndshipday_1.gif){kind=small}
If you are enjoying this page, 
"The
astounded dean, not anticipating such an argument, dodged it, but the
consequences he could not dodge. He had laid his book, as he thought, upon a
cushion – the cushion proved a hornet's nest. In an instant the assembly was
in the wildest uproar. Hands were clapped; hisses and loud vociferations
filled the house, and missiles, such as the hand could reach, filled the
air. A sudden rush was made toward the pulpit by the people in one
direction, and from the pulpit by the dean in the other."
